February 23, 2014

Sunday Morning Book Thread 02-23-2014: Manliness [OregonMuse]
— Open Blogger


manly sailors.jpg
Manly Men Doing Manly Things

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's prestigious Sunday Morning Book Thread.


More Manly Poets

This is a topic I've touched on before, but it's always worth a revisit. Moron commenter 'Taro Tsujimoto' enjoys reading manly poetry written by manly men, poems with, as he says, "big brass huevos", and submitted a few of his favorites.

Dulce et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen (one of my personal favorites) is probably one of the most beautiful anti-war poems you'll ever read, and by "beautiful" I mean "intensely horrific". It's a description of a poison gas attack on a small group of soldiers, and one of them doesn't get his mask on in time. You should really read it out loud to get the feel and rhythm of the words.

According to Owen's bio at poets.org, he was wounded in battle in 1917. But

Owen rejoined his regiment in Scarborough, June 1918, and in August returned to France. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery at Amiens. He was killed on November 4 of that year while attempting to lead his men across the Sambre canal at Ors. He was 25 years old. The news reached his parents on November 11, the day of the Armistice.

Dude hated the war, yet tried to do his duty in combat even though it cost him his life. You can't get much more manly than that.

WWI was a good war to be "anti-" about.

And some poems really do need to be read aloud to get the full effect. For example, Free Fall by Greg Ferguson is a modern retelling of man's temptation and fall from grace based on Genesis 3. But listening to this dramatic reading in the short film video at this link is, in my opinion, a lot better than just reading the text.

WWI (or the aftermath) was also the inspiration for The Second Coming, by W. B. Yeats, written in 1919. This is the poem that contains that famous line "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity" which comes to mind in this age's political and cultural battles every time one on our side betrays us, chickens out, or sells us down the river. Which, as we all know, occurs with depressing regularity.

But it's a thoroughly creepy poem, and it helps to read it in a dimly-lit room with bad weather going on outside.

I remember Simon and Garfunkle's musical version of Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem Richard Cory from their Sounds of Silence album. The whole poem is nothing but a set-up for the last line, which Taro call "the greatest sucker punch in literature." He also says he would love to hear suggestion from other morons on "manly-man kickass poems."

I have a couple of manly poem candidates: Ice Handler by Carl Sandburg (flannel shirts and fisticuffs), and High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Magee, the son of far east missionaries, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. He was killed in a training flight accident at age 19.


Man Card.jpg
Got Yours?


Ugh

In anybody's list of most loathesome politicians, Florida's Charlie Crist probably ranks pretty close to the top. Well, he wrote a book that even made The New Republic gag. Even with the liberal boob bait title The Party's Over: How the Extreme Right Highjacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat, they still thought it sucked bowling balls:

Crist has written...a dishonest and boring memoir. But by the end of this slim volume, a self-justifying account of why Crist switched parties, pathos overwhelms the sheer awfulness of the book. Crist is such a political hack, and so unable to talk or sound like a normal human being, that he actually provides a window into the soul-destroying business of politics.

I must admit the schadenfreude from this is making me feel all warm and toasty.

It's nice to see Crist getting a little payback - after spending much of his career crapping on the party he claimed to be a member of, it's obvious that his new Democrat BFFs don't much care much for him, either. Like Arlen Specter, another ego-driven opportunist who made John Kerry look humble and principled by comparison, Crist's career more or less sputtered out like a wet squib. No one's going to buy his crappy book, either. Of course, in a truly just world, Crist and Specter would be handing out towels in men's restrooms, but just having them out of office and out of public life is good enough for now.


I Think My Irony Meter Just Twitched

Heh. Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them is now available. Price: $2.99.

I would much prefer the spirit behind this book, even though the author was a filthy hippie. In fact, I think he was the king of the filthy hippies.


Where Do Those Lovely Ampersands On This Blog Come From?

According to this Puffington Host piece, '&' used to be a letter:

Ampersand
Until as recently as the early 1900s the ampersand, &, was considered a letter of the alphabet and was listed after Z in twenty-seventh place. At the time it was common practice to use the Latin phrase per se ("by itself") to differentiate between individual letters and single-character words -- so A would be A per se, I would be I per se, and so on -- and so to avoid confusion between & and "and," the alphabet would usually finish with a final "X, Y, Z and per se &." This and per se and eventually ran together, and the ampersand was born.

This sounds a bit on the contrived side to me, but what do I know?

But even so, I thought the article, which discussed the origins of 10 other words (such as paraphernalia, handicap, deadline, for example) is worth a read.

And here are some free ampersands for you non-Premium AoSHQ members:

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


The Job of Writing

From the earlier manly poets thread, I noticed a reference to an article written by Larry Correia from his Monster Hunter Nation blog entitled How to be a Professional Author. Lots of good stuff in it. The section titles are:

Writing isnÂ’t Mystical Bullshit. It is your Job.
WriterÂ’s Block is a Filthy Lie
Everybody has a “Muse”
DonÂ’t Listen to Artsy-Fartsy Chumps
Education versus Paying Rent

Correia references one of his earlier blog posts, Time Management for Writers, which also has lots of good stuff.

I've always known that good writing takes a lot of self-discipline, including dragging yourself to your desk to write even when you don't feel like it, even if you don't feel "inspired". I had some writing pretensions years ago, but I see now why they never went anywhere, and that is my almost complete lack of any kind of discipline.

But enough about me. Read Correia's articles, all ye aspiring writers and be wise.

Thanks to moron commenter 'BornLib'.


Unfamiliar Books, Familiar Authors

An interesting piece that discusses some little-known books by famous authors, but a lot of the authors I've never heard of, either, so those were kind of lost on me. However, here are some on the list that caught my eye:

Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov

Romola by George Eliot

The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman (a mystery by the author of the 'Dark Materials' YA novels)

The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne (what!? The 'Pooh' books guy wrote something else? Yes, he did, and this mystery novel was quite popular in its day. Now, not so much. But the good news is that it's available on Kindle for free).

Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson. Jackson is known chiefly for one monumentally creepy short story, 'The Lottery', but she's written a lot of other creepy stuff, too. Such as this one. Also, The Haunting of Hill House which has been made into a movie a couple of times and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.


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So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as I keep saying, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:00 AM | Comments (193)
Post contains 1422 words, total size 11 kb.

1 Oh send some of those manly men to Fire Island, stat!

Posted by: Anderson Cooper at February 23, 2014 06:02 AM (Aif/5)

2 Well folks, about the only thing I have read this week is the label on my bourbon bottle.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 23, 2014 06:08 AM (T2V/1)

3 Phillip Pullman's "Golden Compass" was good but I heard the rest of the trilogy got preachy. Either way he failed utterly in his stated aim, which was to upend CS Lewis.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 23, 2014 06:09 AM (rAeZm)

4 Downloaded "Monuments Men" from Kindle this week.

Awesome.

Posted by: Trainer's looking to join a Militia. at February 23, 2014 06:10 AM (7EbAY)

5 Generally speaking I'm ot much of a poetry reader but Dulce et Decorum Est made a big impression, particularly when I followed your suggestion and read it aloud. Thanks for the link.

Posted by: President Romney at February 23, 2014 06:10 AM (F58x4)

6 For another William Golding book you haven't read, but should: "Freefall". A harrowing novel about selfishness and its effects on others.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 23, 2014 06:12 AM (rAeZm)

7 The only poetry I ever memorized was the Ballad of Big Ass Lil and Yukon Pete.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 23, 2014 06:14 AM (aYjRw)

8 By the way, and purely as an aside, VDH has a little piece over at NRO on the idea that WW1 was not a "bad war" at all. http://bit.ly/1gtNmzK

Posted by: President Romney at February 23, 2014 06:14 AM (F58x4)

9 What, no Kipling?  http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/mary_gloster.html

Posted by: Cerebral Paul Z. at February 23, 2014 06:14 AM (OSZim)

10 I downloaded both books (well, tidied up blog post collections) by Bookworm. I've nearly finished the first.  I've also downloaded Steyn's Lights Out and another book by.. *goes to look up the details* .. "unPlanned" by Abby Johnson which is apparently the tale of how she went from being a Planned Parenthood manager to being pro-life.  I'm hoping that'll be an interesting read... we'll see.  I have so much craft and photography stuff to deal with this week that I might not get round to reading it for a while.

Posted by: GalaKitty at February 23, 2014 06:17 AM (KT2XH)

11 Isn't the phrase "Manly Poem" an oxymoron, morons? Between oil changes, jelqing and ordering an M1 Garand from CMP, who has time to read, let alone write, poetry? "Don't go in the bushes, someone might grab ya! Fire, Fire Island".

Posted by: IrishEd at February 23, 2014 06:17 AM (bfm04)

12 It looks like Puffington Host did some scant wiki research on the ampersand but the origin of the actual symbol was "et" (Latin: and) written as a typographic ligature (two character joined as one).

Posted by: Dr. Varno at February 23, 2014 06:18 AM (V4CBV)

13 10,000 Maniacs adapted Dulce et Decorum Est to music on their first album back in 1983. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOEcl-9yNhg Bet you weren't expecting a bouncy ska beat, huh? I've always found it oddly infectious.

Posted by: rickl at February 23, 2014 06:18 AM (sdi6R)

14 Yay for retro-causal acclaim! Currently reading The Krumhorn and Misericorde by Dave Freer. http://www.baen.com/krumhorn.asp It is a fantasy short story set in an alternate Ferrara, Italy in 1523 AD.

Posted by: BornLib at February 23, 2014 06:20 AM (zpNwC)

15 Isn't the phrase "Manly Poem" an oxymoron, morons? hwaet!

Posted by: Beowulf at February 23, 2014 06:20 AM (rAeZm)

16 Since True Detective is all the rage, and I haven't watched it.  I figured I would do some reading before I dive in.  I picked up The King in Yellow for background.  The Turn of the Screw is on the list, and so is the Cthulu Mythos.  Sometime next month, I'll start reading Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of True Detective. 

Posted by: no good deed at February 23, 2014 06:23 AM (vBhbc)

17 Life's a funny thing. I had 2 wives. Before them? Two lovers. Between them? Two others. I loved the femininity of them all, and they seemed to love the maleness of me.

We complemented each other. As it was meant to be.

Posted by: backhoe at February 23, 2014 06:26 AM (ULH4o)

18 Thanks to AtC for "The Last Policeman" recommendation from last week. I read the first two installments and am looking forward to July when the third will be released. I particularly like the way the author uses the breakdown of society as a plot device and background but doesn't allow it to overwhelm the story.

Posted by: Wyatt's Torch at February 23, 2014 06:26 AM (zxrQh)

19 I quibble with "Haroun" as an unread Rushdie book. That's the Rushdie book I recommend for people to read first if they're at all interested in what the fuss is about. If they can get through that, they're ready for "Shame" or "Satanic Verses". Martin's "Armageddon Rag", I can see why they have up there. ("Nightflyers" is the one I read, but so many themes in there drifted over to the ASOIAF series, it's almost a prequel.) It's pretty obscure and... different. Or so I hear (I didn't read it).

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 23, 2014 06:27 AM (rAeZm)

20 Ancestry

ONCE I saw mountains angry,
And ranged in battle-front.
Against them stood a little man;
Ay, he was no bigger than my finger.
I laughed, and spoke to one near me,
“Will he prevail?”
“Surely,” replied this other;
“His grandfathers beat them many times.”
Then did I see much virtue in grandfathers,—
At least, for the little man
Who stood against the mountains. — Stephen Crane

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at February 23, 2014 06:27 AM (XO6WW)

21 Hey, I wrote a pretty manly poem about apes and crunchy figs.

Posted by: The Notorious B.H.O. at February 23, 2014 06:28 AM (102Hx)

22 Damn, I'm finally early on the thread but haven't read anything this week. Started a new job though so I have more money for fun things like buying books. Yeah! Hoping to crack open The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell today. I did download a Great Courses audiobook about Socrates and other Greek philosophers this week too. More like a college class than a book though. It's pretty dry but ok.

Posted by: Captain's daughter at February 23, 2014 06:29 AM (ikmY6)

23 Read issue 121 of the walking dead. Skimmed what color is your parachute, drivel. Enjoyed are you there god it's me margaret, again. And reading hoot, cute book.

Posted by: NCKate at February 23, 2014 06:29 AM (4KFgL)

24 no good deed - you're going headfirst into post-Victorian eldritch horror aren't you? Try not to go mad.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 23, 2014 06:30 AM (rAeZm)

25 The depicted "Man Card" has an entry for "Learn To Weld" and another for "Rebuild Engine (any)". I managed a two-fer on that, having welded a cracked block on an old motor as an early project. Sweet.

I am now hoping to similarly combine other entries. There are near misses.

Let's see. "Rescue Kitten From Tree" and "Drink Glenlivet 18 Neat". I have rescued a kitten from a tree. And I had been drinking at the time, which made the process simultaneously entertaining and harrowing, but sadly I had not been drinking neat Glenlivet. Missed it by *that* much. (Please remit all gift shipments of single malt FOB this blog.)

Others? "Carry Buckskin Knife" and "Earn Huge Face Scar". I do carry a knife on occasion but have as yet not managed to inflict a huge face scar on myself with it. Perhaps I need to drink more Scotch before using the knife. That should do the trick. Also, I would really prefer to carry a karambit or a kukri instead of a buckskin. Although I would probably cut my head off with the kukri instead of getting the face scar, so there's that.

And, finally, if I could overlap "Kill 12 Point Buck With Bow" and "Stop Purse Snatcher", that would be sweet. I've already stopped a 12-pointer (with an old heavy Chevy late at night), so all I have to do now is use a bow to kill a purse snatcher.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 23, 2014 06:31 AM (gqT4g)

26 >>>>Isn't the phrase "Manly Poem" an oxymoron, morons?<<<<

 He reeled and on Herminius
 he leaned one breathing space,
 then like a wildcat mad with wounds
 sprang right at Astor's face.
 Through teeth and skull and helmet
 so fierce a thrust he sped
 the good sword stood a hand breadth
 out behind the Tuscan's head......
 On  Astor's throat Horatius right firmly
 pressed his heel
 and thrice and four times tugged amain
 'ere he wrenched out the steel.
 "And see," he cried. "fair guests
 the welcome that waits you here,
 what noble Lucomo comes forth next
 to taste our Roman cheer?"

Macaulay-"The Lays of Ancient Rome"

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at February 23, 2014 06:32 AM (P/gm7)

27 Those Correia links are great, OregonMuse. I love his take on writer's block being total B.S., which is what I've always believed, as well as the fact that there's nothing mystical about it. I'm a freelance copywriter (websites, advertising, whitepapers, video scripts, etc.), which is obviously a lot different from being a novelist, but the same principles apply. I am always astounded at the roadblocks that my fellow freelancers throw in their own way. I'll be honest that I don't even *like* writing that much; what I enjoy is the business aspect. It just happens to be that writing is the conduit.

Posted by: jakeman at February 23, 2014 06:33 AM (vH4YP)

28 The Westerner, by Badger Clark My fathers sleep on the sunrise plains, And each one sleeps alone. Their trails may dim to the grass and rains, For I choose to make my own. I lay proud claim to their blood and name, But I lean on no dead kin; My name is mine, for the praise or scorn, And the world began when I was born And the world is mine to win. They built high towns on their old log sills, Where the great, slow rivers gleamed, But with new, live rock from the savage hills I’ll build as they only dreamed. The smoke scarce dies where the trail camp lies, Till the rails glint down the pass; The desert springs into fruit and wheat And I lay the stones of a solid street Over yesterday’s untrod grass. I waste no thought on my neighbor’s birth Or the way he makes his prayer. I grant him a white man’s room on earth If his game is only square. While he plays it straight I’ll call him mate; If he cheats I drop him flat. Old class and rank are a wornout lie, For all clean men are as good as I, And a king is only that. I dream no dreams of a nurse-maid state That will spoon me out my food. A stout heart sings in the fray with fate And the shock and sweat are good. From noon to noon all the earthly boon That I ask my God to spare Is a little daily bread in store, With the room to fight the strong for more, And the weak shall get their share. The sunrise plains are a tender haze And the sunset seas are gray, But I stand here, where the bright skies blaze Over me and the big today. What good to me is a vague “maybe” Or a mournful “might have been,” For the sun wheels swift from morn to morn And the world began when I was born And the world is mine to win. **** The world that this poem was written about is dead, I think. But that such a world did once exist makes me feel a little bit better as the darkness overtakes us. Remind your children: The world began when they were born. It is still their's to win.

Posted by: Ribald Conservative riding Orca at February 23, 2014 06:33 AM (RFeQD)

29 Anything by Kipling or Robert Service is manly, just by virtue of being written by Kipling or Service. I had a wonderful 6th grade teacher, Mr. Terranova, who had us memorize poems and recite in chorus every morning - and one of the favorite poems was The Cremation of Sam McGee. I think we did it for a school recital, once. I've always thought it curious that in my own books I try and play it straight down the middle, evenly split between male and female characters, and male and female concerns ... yet two-thirds of my mad fans are male. Something about the old wild west setting, maybe. Currently reading an old historical by Rosemary Hawley Jarman, "Crown in Candlelight" about Katherine Valois, Henry V and Owen Tudor ... which, curiously, does split evenly regarding the female and male characters ...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at February 23, 2014 06:36 AM (Asjr7)

30 In those 50 underappreciated books by famous writers (and there are usually good reasons why they're underappreciated) the only one I've read is Suttree by Cormac McCarthy and it does contain some of his best writing.  One scene where the main character is lost and feverish in the winter woods is just stunning in its word play to the point where I was shaking my head in amazement as I was reading it.  I might suggest the Faulkner and Nabokov works, the two greatest authors alive during my lifetime imo, for my book group.


Speaking of my book group, we've begun Death in a Family by James Agee which is a pleasant surprise since I didn't know what to expect in it.  His writing reminds me of Faulkner in a way because one stream of consciousness narration where you didn't know whose voice it was struck me as somewhat similar to the beginning of Sound and Fury where you didn't know WTF was going on.  A very good portrait of life in the South in the early 20th century.


I'm to the point in "Red Fortress" by Catherine Merridale where Ivan the Terrible's maggot covered carcass is dead (what a major cocksucker he was; killing his son in a murderous insane rage and destroying any prefered heir that he had; not to mention just uprooting his entire entourage and capriciously relocating elsewhere in the country while everybody in Moscow is wondering WTF) and we're on to his mildly retarded son taking over and being a pretty good guy amidst all the snakes around him.  We're also introduced to Boris Godunov, which belatedly makes me realize the erudite nature of Rocky and Bullwinkle having the spy Boris Badenov.


Made some progress in Gibbon where he's talking about all the different factions in Italy in the eleventh century.  Specifically he's now talking about the Normans (who I finally realize came from the Normandy area of France; yes I'm an idiot sometimes in not putting things together) landing there through going on pilgrimages and being asked there by the Lombards to getting rid of the fucking Saracens, which they did.  The trouble is once they were there they liked the place and decided to set up permanent camp there, which some of the locals weren't very happy about.  The Byzantines tried to buy them off to go fight the Persians to which they said "Fuck that shit" and Pope Leo tried to get rid of them and they kicked his ass while still looking up to him.  Maybe they needed comprehensive immigration reform.  As is usual with Gibbon, he narrates that in some of the most incomprehensible prose possible, making you reread it to make sure you understand just what the fuck he's saying.  At this point, I'm just finishing it to say that I did it but it is one fucking slog of a series of books.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 06:36 AM (lX1xQ)

31 The most manly thing you can ever do is be yourself, be true to yourself. You are a violent offender to everyone who worships the leftist pantheon when you just be yourself.

Posted by: M. Murcek at February 23, 2014 06:36 AM (GJUgF)

32 Pullman wrote a series of Sally Lockhart mysteries (Ruby in the Smoke is one of them) and all are fun reads. The Subtle Knife, second in the dark materials trilogy, is better than the first. Amber Spyglass, the final book is a mess. Mostly I am reading garden catalogs and pickling/fermentation recipes in an attempt to halt global warming and melt the snow and ice cover. BTW, Robert Frost is my concept of a manly poet. Tranquil Sunday to all.

Posted by: Angel with a sword at February 23, 2014 06:41 AM (hpgw1)

33 Let's see: Grow Epic Beard--Check, if "scraggly" counts. Take Up Smoking Tobacco from Pipe--I have done that, but mostly just smoke cigarettes. Rescue Kitten from Tree--No, but I rescued one from a roof once. Drink Glenlivet 18 Neat--How about The Macallan 12 over ice? Welp, that's about it for me.

Posted by: rickl at February 23, 2014 06:42 AM (sdi6R)

34 Specifically he's now talking about the Normans ... landing there through going on pilgrimages and being asked there by the Lombards to getting rid of the fucking Saracens, which they did. The trouble is once they were there they liked the place and decided to set up permanent camp there Hey, they look trustworthy to me. What's the worst that could happen.

Posted by: Edward the Confessor, of the House of Wessex at February 23, 2014 06:42 AM (rAeZm)

35 I'll do my best, boulder toilet hobo.  I probably should leave bread crumbs so I can find my way back.  I'll confess my dark secret so you don't have to worry about me.  I recently discovered the Veronica Mars TV series.  I missed it the first time around because I was busy with babies.  I'm now awaiting the movie and book scheduled to be released in March.  I'll take a breath from the horror for a little detective noir.  That should save my sanity.  Though it seems I still have the television taste of a teenage girl.  I don't think that can be helped. 

Posted by: no good deed at February 23, 2014 06:43 AM (vBhbc)

36 27?
jakeman?

"Writer's block" is one of those weird things that may or may not be true- depending.

I wrote ad copy and magazine articles for years. When my late second wife insisted we move away from "that first wife's house"- on the Back River here? I completely dried up.

Could not write a word. I attributed it to "not being near the moving waters."

Hell, who knows? Soon as she died young and unexpectedly, I couldn't stop writing.

"So it goes...."

Posted by: backhoe at February 23, 2014 06:43 AM (ULH4o)

37 Well, the most manly poems of all time are The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid.  And then there's Beowulf.  There's also Robert Haydn's "Those Winter Sundays."

Posted by: ilrndude at February 23, 2014 06:45 AM (WPMXB)

38 Ted Nugent has written four books Just sayin'...

Posted by: TexasJew at February 23, 2014 06:45 AM (U+u4A)

39 Shakespeare -- St Crispin's Day speech Kipling -- pretty much all Henley -- Invictus DH Lawrence -- evocative poet Whittier -- Barbara Freitchie Was thinking about Cruz/Paul/Lee and how they have punched through the "unwinnable" wall of LSM to bring true issues to the forefront. Faint heart never won a fair lady.

Posted by: Mustbequantum at February 23, 2014 06:46 AM (MIKMs)

40 "&" premium membership is awesome.....just saying......

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl 4 days until spring training at February 23, 2014 06:46 AM (u8GsB)

41 Hey, they look trustworthy to me. What's the worst that could happen.

Posted by: Edward the Confessor, of the House of Wessex at February 23, 2014 10:42 AM (rAeZm)



Comments like this are why the book threads are the best.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 06:47 AM (lX1xQ)

42 I just finished Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", which thanks to a rec posted here, I got for my Kindle for @2.99.  I can't think of many better returns on investment.   The book is outstanding, although long.  I'd already read his followup book "Dark Sun", which deals with the development of thermonuclear bombs, as opposed to atom bombs.  The difference in yield between the two is roughly comparable (3 orders of magnitude) to the difference between the Hiroshima bomb and the largest conventional weapons such as the MOAB.

I suppose that the first half of the book could be slow for those not interested in the history of the underlying physics that lead to the bomb, but I recommend that you stick with it.  The interplay between the history, physics and personalities of the people involved is fascinating. 

Posted by: pep at February 23, 2014 06:47 AM (6TB1Z)

43 I'm surprised you didn't mention "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries" by A.E.Housman in your recounting of some of the great WWI poems. These, in the day when heaven was falling, The hour when earth's foundations fled, Followed their mercenary calling, And took their wages, and are dead. Their shoulders held the sky suspended; They stood, and earth's foundations stay; What God abandoned, these defended, And saved the sum of things for pay. If I recall correctly, he wrote this after the British Expeditionary Force stopped the German drive on Paris in 1914 at the price of their lives. The pre-war army essentially died and had to be rebuilt.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop at February 23, 2014 06:48 AM (1htQa)

44 "I've always known that good writing takes a lot of self-discipline, including dragging yourself to your desk to write even when you don't feel like it, even if you don't feel 'inspired'."

I've never had to write for a living, but I find that forcing myself to work at any cognitively demanding task, when I don't feel like doing it, is a recipe for low productivity and low quality. And, if it's something I'm still figuring out how to do, it's also a recipe for a low learning rate.

If you're having consistent trouble getting into the sweet spot where you have high energy and enthusiasm for what you're trying to get done, which is also the spot where you are getting it done with good results, perhaps there are problems elsewhere (health, nutrition, sleep, exercise, romance) which are quietly subverting your effort. Take inventory of those.

Or, and the possibility must be admitted, that what you're trying to get done is just not something you'll ever be good at no matter how much warm regard you have for that field, and no matter how much sweatingly diligent self-forced time is put into it.

Separating the topic from writing, consider those sad sacks who have spent a hundred thousand hours of steady practice trying to be guitar gods and who still really can't play the instrument worth a damn.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 23, 2014 06:48 AM (gqT4g)

45 For manly poetry read anything - hell read everything - by Robert Service

For my money the best "guy" poet that ever lived

His work was so famous and so commonly taught in school - at least before WWII - that there were Warner Brothers cartoons in the 30's that were riffs on his poems - and everyone was expected to get the joke.

Posted by: jscd3 at February 23, 2014 06:48 AM (IhcR5)

46 texas jew 5 books

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl 4 days until spring training at February 23, 2014 06:49 AM (u8GsB)

47 As for the Man Card punch list, I'd better get fitted for a tutu.  I've only done two, pipe smoking and drink Glenlivet neat.  However, I must point out that Glenlivet is for lily-livered wimps.  Get some Talisker, LaPhroaig (sp), or Lagavulin, and then we'll talk.

Posted by: pep at February 23, 2014 06:50 AM (6TB1Z)

48 Shirley Jackson also wrote 'Life Among the Savages' which in my view is one of the funniest domestic books ever written. Which were the savages, it doesn't say, but there are a lot of candidates and her spare prose is so good it's poetic.

Posted by: Mustbequantum at February 23, 2014 06:55 AM (MIKMs)

49 "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity" which comes to mind in this age's political and cultural battles every time one on our side betrays us, chickens out, or sells us down the river. *** The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but only to a point. The bane of all coalitions. (1 out of 15 on the man card thing.)

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 23, 2014 06:55 AM (g4TxM)

50 I don't think much fiction is written for men.  Manliest writer I have read is probably Nelson DeMille.

Posted by: CausticConservative at February 23, 2014 06:58 AM (gT3jF)

51 Obligatory: Student #1: Do you like Kipling? Student #2: I don't know. I've never Kipled.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 23, 2014 07:01 AM (g4TxM)

52 or another William Golding book you haven't read, but should: "Freefall". A harrowing novel about selfishness and its effects on others.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 23, 2014 10:12 AM (rAeZm)



Darkness Visible is another good but very disturbing work.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 07:01 AM (lX1xQ)

53 I don't think much fiction is written for men. Science fiction readers are mostly still male, I believe. But in general you're right. Last stat I saw had women at 58% : http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/women-accounted-for-58-of-book-spending-in-2012_b75513

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 23, 2014 07:02 AM (rAeZm)

54 Manly fiction?  Harry Crews.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 07:03 AM (lX1xQ)

55 Epitaph for An Army of Mercenaries


http://www.metacafe.com/watch/8566374/epitaph_for_an_army_of_mercenaries/

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at February 23, 2014 07:03 AM (XO6WW)

56 43 If I recall correctly, he wrote this after the British Expeditionary Force stopped the German drive on Paris in 1914 at the price of their lives. The pre-war army essentially died and had to be rebuilt. Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop at February 23, 2014 10:48 AM (1htQa) I've read the book "Death of an Army" by Anthony Farrar-Hockley, which is about that. I read it years ago, but if I recall correctly, it covers the period in the fall of 1914, after the Germans were halted at the Marne. The BEF was transferred north to the Belgium area, where they fought the First Battle of Ypres. That was where they took most of their casualties.

Posted by: rickl at February 23, 2014 07:04 AM (sdi6R)

57 When did fiction become female? Men talk about non-fiction but do not discuss fiction much. Scifi used to be acceptable to read on the train without raised eyebrows and mutterings about man cards, but even scifi seems headed for the fiction is female unserious designation. Just an impression, but I think a thoughtful observation and worth discussion.

Posted by: Mustbequantum at February 23, 2014 07:06 AM (MIKMs)

58 Rushdie's "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" is a surprisingly spritely and humorous book. For years I only knew of Rushdie as the victim of a fatwa, but he really is a good writer. Right now I'm reading Mike Resnick's "The Doctor and the Dinosaur", from his series of weird west SF novels featuring Doc Holliday, with appearances by Thomas Edison, Teddy Roosevelt, Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, and other frontier personages. The stories are funny weird, not Joe R. Lonsdale weird.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at February 23, 2014 07:07 AM (QBm1P)

59 Picked up A Desert Called Peace from the Baen Free Library. Thick but interesting. It's pretty much a critique of the War on Terror but transplanted to another world. The good guys (at least one commander) doesn't much care about the niceties of PC and Progressive hand wringers. I'm enjoying it despite knowing he's intentionally pushing my buttons as a piece of revenge 'porn' (probably too strong a word, but it kind of fits).  Worth checking out as it is free.

Posted by: Todd W at February 23, 2014 07:09 AM (lrkg9)

60 someone mentioned "The Breach" last week... excellent book that grabs you by the throat and won't let go... highly recommended

Posted by: tomc at February 23, 2014 07:12 AM (avEuh)

61 I just finished Armor and Blood: The Battle of Kursh, The Turning Point of World War II by Dennis E. Showalter. The strength of the book is showing the German and Russian planning for the battle. Its weakness is a lack of maps at a scale that indicate the topography; the author will describe fighting for hills and villages but the reader has no frame of reference. The book helps debunk both the German's rationalization of their defeat (Hitler lost his nerve and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory) and Russian's claim of superior planning allowed them to destroy the German Army. The truth is that the Germans underestimated their opponents, attacked at near 1:1 odds and got swamped by the Russians. The Russians simply drowned the Germans in blood; the Germans sustained over 50,000 casualties compared the about 320,000 Russians. The book is peppered with some interesting anecdotes from survivors. It makes for some grim reading, but I found the book to be a decent summation of the battle.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop at February 23, 2014 07:12 AM (1htQa)

62 I'm not a big fan of poetry because 99% of it is pretentious trash and feely mush. But there are some tiny shreds of tolerable work out there, and guys like Yeats wrote most of it.
Then there are words which are almost poetry, like this line from Herman Melville in Moby Dick:
"...there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he forever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than the other birds upon the plain, even though they soar.”
Then there are overrated hacks like Maya Angelou. This is one of hers:
"Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time."
Wow, that's the best the Poet Laureate of the United States can come up with? That's your idea of a poetic statement? What a mistress of the language you are. How profound and fitting. You're like a virus, you overindulged hack.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 23, 2014 07:12 AM (zfY+H)

63 61 ... oops, should be Battle of Kursk

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop at February 23, 2014 07:14 AM (1htQa)

64 Fantasy is still largely directed at men, but that's shifting too. At least, the stuff from big publishing houses. I wrote about this earlier this week in the Sci Fi association post, but women dominate the publishing field, and they get to pick what gets printed and what does not. Then they whine in every media outlet they can reach about how men dominate things and they have to work to overcome that.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 23, 2014 07:14 AM (zfY+H)

65 I know some manly poems about a man from Nantucket.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 23, 2014 07:16 AM (E+uky)

66 After reading the three solo Ryk Spoor books I know of (Grand Central Arena, Spheres of Influence, and Phoenix Rising), I'm a confirmed fan of his.  I know he has some co-written books, but having had bad experiences with all too many collaboration novels with  other writers I like solo, I'm a little reluctant to try them without Moron input.

Have any of you read them, and if so, what are your opinions?

Posted by: Empire1 at February 23, 2014 07:17 AM (Vw9Ad)

67 Posted by: pep at February 23, 2014 10:50 AM (6TB1Z)

Have to agree.

Glenlivet is whiskey with training wheels.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 23, 2014 07:21 AM (QFxY5)

68 The Russians simply drowned the Germans in blood; the Germans sustained over 50,000 casualties compared the about 320,000 Russians. Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop at February 23, 2014 11:12 AM (1htQa) Some people say the Russians did most of the fighting but in reality they did most of the dying due to their asshole leaders.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 23, 2014 07:22 AM (6Nj7A)

69
50 I don't think much fiction is written for men. Manliest writer I have read is probably Nelson DeMille.
Posted by: CausticConservative

Come over here and I'll kick your ass for you.  And whoever this Nelson guy is.

Posted by: Mickey Spillane at February 23, 2014 07:22 AM (6TB1Z)

70 Hmmm, huge facial scar huh?

Posted by: Hillary at February 23, 2014 07:24 AM (pgQxn)

71 Carl Sandburg?

Ode on a Union Thug?

Posted by: Jerome at February 23, 2014 07:25 AM (eQa5p)

72 I've downloaded a lot of free poetry to my Kindle but haven't looked at it, maybe one day. Currently reading 'Steelheart' by Brandon Sanderson, a real fun ride of a book with super powered people in a dystopian world, very entertaining.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 23, 2014 07:27 AM (x+P8L)

73 That painting is about as gay as it gets. Two major phallic symbols, one of which is about to be shoved in the rear of the other by sweaty sailors. I'm not judging gayness, but boy howdy, that painting is gay.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at February 23, 2014 07:32 AM (mTM2n)

74 I am **loving** Alex Berenson's "The Counterfeit Agent." I've enjoyed the entire John Wells series, but this is by far the best. Highly recommended for fans of Flynn, Thor, and Silva. Disregard the fact that he was a reporter for the New York Times. No sucker punches. Guilty pleasure -- really enjoyed Jonathan Kellerman's "Killer."

Posted by: doug at February 23, 2014 07:33 AM (WEqwO)

75 Never forget, Kipling was a Victorian Moron: "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition" ― Rudyard Kipling.

Posted by: Hrothgar 2+2=4 for most values of 2 and 4 at February 23, 2014 07:41 AM (o3MSL)

76 Both "Lucky Jim" and "The Anti-Death League" were on Anthony Burgess's list of the 99 Greatest Novels of the 20th Century.

My dad raved about Kingsley Amis, he tried to get me to read Lucky Jim, but I just couldn't get into it. But that was over 30 years ago, maybe it's worth another look.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 07:41 AM (fTJ5O)

77 As to the notion that little fiction is written for men, that's partially true, but a contributing factor is doubtless the male preference for non-fiction, which as a general rule, is not the case for women.  There are many exceptions, of course.

Posted by: pep at February 23, 2014 07:43 AM (6TB1Z)

78 I've always liked "The Death Of The Ball Turret Gunner"

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at February 23, 2014 07:43 AM (TWrD6)

79 For manly men fiction you could do worse than James Ellroy's White Jazz. It's about a detective in 50s L.A. who gets caught up in a Fed investigation of the LAPD vice squad which could be embarrassing as he moonlights as a hit man for the mob. Rumor has it Ellroy submitted an incredibly long book and his publisher ordered him to reduce it by half. Rather than to remove the numerous subplots he removed modifiers which gives the book a you-are-there stream of consciousness feel.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 23, 2014 07:45 AM (E+uky)

80 "68 The Russians simply drowned the Germans in blood; the Germans sustained over 50,000 casualties compared the about 320,000 Russians.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop at February 23, 2014 11:12 AM (1htQa)

Some people say the Russians did most of the fighting but in reality they did most of the dying due to their asshole leaders.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 23, 2014 11:22 AM (6Nj7A)"



90% of the Wehrmacht served on the Russian front.  90% of the German casualties were on the Russian front.



What does that sound like to you?

Posted by: Plutarcho Elias Calles at February 23, 2014 07:45 AM (BcCwi)

81 71 Carl Sandburg?

Ode on a Union Thug?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. But the union thug is quite manly in the way he goes about punching out scabs.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 07:45 AM (fTJ5O)

82 That painting is about as gay as it gets. Two major phallic symbols, one of which is about to be shoved in the rear of the other by sweaty sailors. I'm not judging gayness, but boy howdy, that painting is gay. - You forgot racist. It celebrates white men killing Orientals.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 23, 2014 07:48 AM (E+uky)

83 Posted by: backhoe at February 23, 2014 10:43 AM (ULH4o) I firmly believe that there is a part of the human soul that longs to be close to moving (or still) waters.

Posted by: Hrothgar 2+2=4 for most values of 2 and 4 at February 23, 2014 07:48 AM (o3MSL)

84 Check out the early poems of James Dickey. Dickey served in two wars, and he wrote some remarkable verses in poems like 'Adultery,' 'Looking for the Buckhead Boys' (you can see him read this on a vid at YouTube) and others. Most only know him for the novel 'Deliverance,' but his poetry preceded his fiction. He also knew how to throw one helluva party.

I just finished reading Tom Clancy's <strong>Threat Vector</strong>. Growing awareness of China's push for domination in the South China Sea and the country's tech advancements in cyberwar reaffirm Clancy as a visionary. It's a page turner.

Posted by: KBDay at February 23, 2014 07:49 AM (SwOZF)

85 I'm willing to be wrong about this.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2014 11:34 AM (KBvAm)



I know a woman who's a big Crews fan.  She also likes sex and talking about it a lot.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 07:49 AM (lX1xQ)

86 Guilty pleasure -- really enjoyed Jonathan Kellerman's "Killer."

Posted by: doug at February 23, 2014 11:33 AM (WEqwO)


===================


Did you?  I  was very disappointed in it.  I thought the plot twist was lame and underdeveloped, and without justified motivation. Last night I  read the final few chapters, turned the last page expecting there to be more to the story, and was astonished to find out that indeed, that was all there was to it.


I usually enjoy Jonathon Kellerman's books, but not this latest one.  I find overall I much prefer his wife Faye Kellerman's "Peter Decker" series.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 23, 2014 07:51 AM (oMKp3)

87 Surprised not to see Pincher Martin listed for William Golding. Not a cheery tale, but a good one.

Posted by: Lincolntf at February 23, 2014 07:51 AM (ZshNr)

88 Greetings: Not much inclined toward poetry myself even the manly sort, but as a former sort of cavalryman of a somewhat manly sort, here goes my favorite bit: I sprang to the stirrup and Joris and he. I galloped, he galloped, we galloped all three. Anapest, baby, anapest.

Posted by: 11B40 at February 23, 2014 07:51 AM (ur0p4)

89 Does your husband
Misbehave
Grunt and grumble
Rant and rave
Shoot the brute some
Burma-Shave

Posted by: Fritz at February 23, 2014 07:52 AM (PnMCP)

90 I didn't read all the links but I guess some of you know that Larry Correia is also the blogger who broke the Fast and Furious story. He writes at Sipsey Street Irregulars along with Mike Vanderweugh (sp).

Posted by: Mr. Dave at February 23, 2014 07:54 AM (RlEsx)

91 @#51 Kipled requires two ps. That is, Kippled. Hey just because we're being "MANLY" doesn't mean we can't be pedantic. OK, I'm headed back to my safe room now.

Posted by: Ghabberflasted at February 23, 2014 07:54 AM (qCHug)

92 "59 Picked up A Desert Called Peace from the Baen Free Library. Thick but interesting. It's pretty much a critique of the War on Terror but transplanted to another world. The good guys (at least one commander) doesn't much care about the niceties of PC and Progressive hand wringers. I'm enjoying it despite knowing he's intentionally pushing my buttons as a piece of revenge 'porn' (probably too strong a word, but it kind of fits). Worth checking out as it is free.

Posted by: Todd W at February 23, 2014 11:09 AM (lrkg9)"



I don't think it is too strong to call it anti-Muslim hate pr0n.  I've read the whole series and loved it.



Another book by Tom Kratman is Caliphate.  It is available on Kindle right now for free.  I strongly recommend it.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-hole at February 23, 2014 07:54 AM (BcCwi)

93 I think every man should try to emulate President Obama.

Posted by: Dorcus Blimeline at February 23, 2014 08:00 AM (iB0Q2)

94 Count me in with the Lucky Jim appreciation society.  It's just a funny book on its own, but that it tees off on wacademia should make it a Moron page turner.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 08:01 AM (lX1xQ)

95 I think every man should try to emulate President Obama. Posted by: Dorcus Blimeline Honey, that's a really bad idea.

Posted by: Michelle Obama at February 23, 2014 08:01 AM (RFeQD)

96 Re: 89 "Killer" did end abruptly and unsatisfyingly, but I did find most of the book enjoyable. I've liked most of Jonathan's books. I did read one Faye Kellerman book and was underwhelmed. Sounds like I should try another. Re: 95 -- Thanks for mentioning the free kindle "Caliphate!" I meant to read it and forgot. Free is even better.

Posted by: doug at February 23, 2014 08:01 AM (WEqwO)

97 I picked up two books this week based upon Book Thread recommendations.  "The Monkey's Raincoat" by Robert Crais, and "The Testament" by John Grisham.

If I find I do not like them, I will be coming after whoever recommended these to reimburse me for full purchase price times ten. 

Since I got them from the public library, I figure that comes out to about zero including sales tax, give or take a few cents.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 23, 2014 08:01 AM (oMKp3)

98 AE Housman was a queer as a bluidy three-pound note with Oscar Wilde's picture on it. Jesus Christ I wish we still had queers like him. Moron anthem:

Say, for what were hop-yards meant,
Or why was Burton built on Trent?
Oh many a peer of England brews
Livelier liquor than the Must,
And malt does more than Milton can
To justify God's ways to man
Ale man, ale's the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think:
Look into the pewter pot
To see the world as the world's not.




















Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 08:06 AM (xq1UY)

99 "I had some writing pretensions years ago, but I see now why they never went anywhere, and that is my almost complete lack of any kind of discipline."

-------------------

You've just written my entire biography in one sentence. Muse. Not bad for someone with no discipline of any kind.

Posted by: DamnDirtyRINO at February 23, 2014 08:08 AM (m0h0I)

100 OK, who's replacing my commas with periods? Stop it! Stop it NOW!

Posted by: DamnDirtyRINO at February 23, 2014 08:10 AM (m0h0I)

101 Er, can we haz a Daytona 500 thread?

Posted by: Nip Sip at February 23, 2014 08:10 AM (0FSuD)

102 Larry Niven told a short tale within a tale about a very manly man. This fellow was a fat, balding ordinary dude leading an ordinary life with an ordinary family. One day Kizinti raiders slaughtered his family, so in quest for revenge this fellow air-dropped into the center of a Kzinti city and began a slaughter of his own. Eventually the Kzinti overcame him and then built a statue in his honor and placed where he landed. To this day the speak of him with honor.

Posted by: eman at February 23, 2014 08:10 AM (AO9UG)

103 A turn in the barrel should get added to the man card list.

Posted by: eman at February 23, 2014 08:12 AM (AO9UG)

104 2 Well folks, about the only thing I have read this week is the label on my bourbon bottle. Posted by: Vic at February 23, 2014 10:08 AM (T2V/1) I have found that they are easier to read empty.

Posted by: Nip Sip at February 23, 2014 08:12 AM (0FSuD)

105 Where Do Those Lovely Ampersands On This Blog Come From? Bring back þe letter "Þ"!

Posted by: Þe Political Hat at February 23, 2014 08:12 AM (AymDN)

106 Where's the gum thread?

Posted by: Toothless Geezer at February 23, 2014 08:13 AM (rNCEP)

107 Stringer Davis, I just saved you a stint in the barrel.

Thanks to my l33t status on this here smart military blog.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 08:13 AM (fTJ5O)

108 I read Romola, after having tried MiddleMarch, on Captain's advice, it was a very good read into the Renaissance mindset.

Posted by: coriolianus snw at February 23, 2014 08:14 AM (Jsiw/)

109

Not poetry, but Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is pretty damn manly. You can't get more manly than being the captain of a British ship during the Napoleanic Wars.

 

In a discussion of manly authors, I'm surprised Hemingway's name hasn't come up yet. (I'm not a great fan of his.) Hemingway loved to eat onion sandwiches, a fact that helps explain why he had 4 wives.

 

Orwell wasn't Mr. Macho - but he was a socialist who was manly enough to tell the truth about what Stalin's stooges were doing in Spain during their Civil War, something the rest of the literary cocksuckers who went to fight on the Republican side were too cowed to do. And as if that didn't piss off the left enough, he went on to write Animal Farm and 1984. He had enough courage to tell the truth.

Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at February 23, 2014 08:14 AM (R3gO3)

110 Manly, you want manly? Hard to find, but go and look anyway.
Yvor Winters, An Elegy: for the USN dirigible Macon

At the Museum of the US Air Force near Dayton, there is a display case where you can push a button and hear a tape recording of Magee's mother reading "High Flight."

They keep pretty good care of their museum, but it stills gets dusty in there.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 08:14 AM (xq1UY)

111 Those are especially pretty ampersands. Quite perky and fetching.

Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at February 23, 2014 08:15 AM (R3gO3)

112 87 I'm willing to be wrong about this. Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2014 11:34 AM (KBvAm) Well, I love him.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at February 23, 2014 08:16 AM (Pfvig)

113 Bring back þe letter "Þ"!

Hwaet!

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 08:16 AM (fTJ5O)

114 The Last Stand of Fox Company is only $1.99 on Kindle.  The Chosin Frozen.
http://tinyurl.com/l7q5wvz

Friend loaned me their copy of Neptune's Inferno to read.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at February 23, 2014 08:16 AM (T0LzR)

115 107 A turn in the barrel should get added to the man card list.

Only if a bushel of broken glass is thrown in there first. 

Not poetry, but Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is pretty damn manly. You can't get more manly than being the captain of a British ship during the Napoleanic Wars.

Ahem.  Rum,  sodomy and the lash. (Churchill)

Posted by: pep at February 23, 2014 08:17 AM (6TB1Z)

116 Wow! Excellent intro OregonMuse. I remember my English teacher talking about the number of very young authors, poets, artists, etc. who were killed in WW1. She was a true lover of literature and must of felt the loss of deeply. That was a long time ago but her sadness stuck with me. I also remember reading and discussing "The Lottery" in school. It was indeed creepy. More so at that time because the kid lit I read was very traditional. No dystopian themes and sparkly vampires. Whoever mentioned "The Breach" by Patrick Lee last week deserves a big "Thank you". Picked it up and finished in 1 day. Now into the sequel and can't wait to read the last of the trilogy. Very exciting books. Real page turners. Thanks again.

Posted by: Tuna at February 23, 2014 08:17 AM (M/TDA)

117 Oregon, I also spelled your name wrong in the text as I transcribed from notepad.
And spoiled the rhyme pattern.
The greatest writers have the greatest editors.
Care to jump in and really help a Housman out here?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 08:18 AM (xq1UY)

118 Not poetry, but Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is pretty damn manly. You can't get more manly than being the captain of a British ship during the Napoleanic Wars.

Yes. Mrs. Muse is going through this series via audiobook and she assures me they are indeed, quite manly.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 08:18 AM (fTJ5O)

119 I read Romola, after having tried MiddleMarch, on Captain's advice, it was a very good read into the Renaissance mindset.

Posted by: coriolianus snw at February 23, 2014 12:14 PM (Jsiw/)



I couldn't remember if that was the one you and others were talking about.



Not poetry, but Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is pretty damn manly. You can't get more manly than being the captain of a British ship during the Napoleanic Wars.

Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at February 23, 2014 12:14 PM (R3gO3)



I've convinced my book group to read that in the near future.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 08:19 AM (lX1xQ)

120 Reading "The Son" by Philip Meyer, takes place in Texas from the point of view of 3 characters (different generations in a family) and holy crap is it manly to this female. Very male. I am liking it a lot. Boy were those Texas settlers tough motherfuckers. If anyone knows more about this book or Meyer, would love to hear. I wish AoSHQ would put up a thread about House Of Cards, which I just finished last night. Terrific series but on what planet would Democrats be strong arming Republicans into entitlement reform? And the Machiavellian, evil genius VP and caring smart ethical President, it is like bizarro DC 2014.

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 23, 2014 08:19 AM (ez1qi)

121 Daytona 500 pre-race. Kyle Larson is the real deal. Larson vs the Dillon Brothers is gonna be a story for the next decade. Dillon Brothers are the ultimate silver spoon, Nascar royalty racers, practically born into Nascar. Larson is the middle class California kid who had to win at every level, from go-karts at age 5 on up. If he'd lost at any level he'd never have made it to Nascar. He got there on pure talent, with little money and no family connections.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 23, 2014 08:19 AM (ZPrif)

122 Meaning "Master and Commander" although I've been assured that once I get the bug from that I won't be satisfied until I've completed the series.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2014 08:20 AM (lX1xQ)

123 I've been meaning to mention. Ever since Carol took a quick turn through the barrel a couple of weeks ago, it's been a fundamentally better place.

Silk curtains. And the carpet is clean! Thanks, Carol!

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 08:20 AM (xq1UY)

124 Care to jump in and really help a Housman out here?

That Housman poem looks OK to me. Is the formatting supposed to be different?

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 08:21 AM (fTJ5O)

125 Speaking of manly writers I'd go with Gerard Manley Hopkins-the English convert to Roman Catholicism who became a Jesuit priest and who lived from 1844-1889. He was actually a rather sensitive soul and with no real evidence he's been put into the camp of "He was definitely gay". by some modern gay scholars, because of course if you're a man and love other men deeply as a friends without having sex with them it must mean you're gay/sarc. One of his poems: What Shall I Do For the Land that Bred Me by Gerard Manley Hopkins What shall I do for the land that bred me, Her homes and fields that folded and fed me?— Be under her banner and live for her honour: Under her banner I’ll live for her honour. CHORUS. Under her banner live for her honour. Not the pleasure, the pay, the plunder, But country and flag, the flag I am under— There is the shilling that finds me willing To follow a banner and fight for honour. CH. We follow her banner, we fight for her honour. Call me England’s fame’s fond lover, Her fame to keep, her fame to recover. Spend me or end me what God shall send me, But under her banner I live for her honour. CH. Under her banner we march for her honour. Where is the field I must play the man on? O welcome there their steel or cannon. Immortal beauty is death with duty, If under her banner I fall for her honour. CH. Under her banner we fall for her honour.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 23, 2014 08:24 AM (XyM/Y)

126 Posted by: Goldilocks at February 23, 2014 12:19 PM (ez1qi) Have you tried Sgt Mom's books? (Celia Hayes) Some great Texas history and storytelling!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at February 23, 2014 08:26 AM (Pfvig)

127 Peggy Noonan (don't throw rocks at me, yes I know, Noonan, but every so often she manages to hit the nail on the head) notes that the "House of Cards" is very popular among the DC pols, including JEF. That's a bit surrealistic - a bunch of decadent, amoral, ruthless, power-crazy shits watching a show about decadent, amoral, ruthless power-crazy shits and celebrating the show. As Noonan said, those people apparently have no clue at all as to how they appear to their subjects in flyover country. They're laughing at us.

Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at February 23, 2014 08:28 AM (R3gO3)

128 Great suggestions, Morons. Thanks much.

Another fave - "The Young British Soldier" by Kipling.

"When 'arf of your bullets fly wide in the ditch,
Don't call your Martini a cross-eyed old bitch,
She's human as you are, you treat her as sich,
An' she'll fight for the young British soldier...

"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier..."

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at February 23, 2014 08:28 AM (celt+)

129 Hi Tammy!

( *waves at Tammy* )

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 08:29 AM (fTJ5O)

130 And yes, I think that painting is rather Tom of Finland-ish.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at February 23, 2014 08:29 AM (Pfvig)

131 Re: Daytona - Fox Richmond has pre-race show with no audio. The .2 subchannel's audo is fine, but the .1 Fox station audio is down. Can't even be bothered to put up a chyron explaining what is wrong. Even local commercials are silent. Wonder if they even noticed...

Posted by: doug at February 23, 2014 08:31 AM (WEqwO)

132 Not sure if it counts as manly, and not sure if anyone's even still on the booke thread, but here's my favorite poem, Geoffrey Hill's Genesis:

I
Against the burly air I strode
Crying the miracles of God.

And first I brought the sea to bear
Upon the dead weight of the land;
And the waves flourished at my prayer,
The rivers spawned their sand.

And where the streams were salt and full
The tough pig-headed salmon strove,
Ramming the ebb, in the tide's pull,
To reach the steady hills above.

II
The second day I stood and saw
The osprey plunge with triggered claw,
Feathering blood along the shore,
To lay the living sinew bare.

And the third day I cried: "Beware
The soft-voiced owl, the ferret's smile,
The hawk's deliberate stoop in air,
Cold eyes, and bodies hooped in steel,
Forever bent upon the kill."

III
And I renounced, on the fourth day,
This fierce and unregenerate clay,
Building as a huge myth for man
The watery Leviathan,

And made the long-winged albatross
Scour the ashes of the sea
Where Capricorn and Zero cross,
A brooding immortality -
Such as the charmed phoenix had
In the unwithering tree.

IV
The phoenix burns as cold as frost;
And, like a legendary ghost,
The phantom-bird goes wild and lost,
Upon a pointless ocean tossed.

So, the fifth day, I turned again
To flesh and blood and the world's pain.

V
On the sixth day, as I rode
In haste about the works of God,
With spurs I plucked the horse's blood.

By blood we live, the hot, the cold,
To ravage and redeem the world:
There is no bloodless myth will hold.

And by Christ's blood are men made free
Though in close shrouds their bodies lie
Under the rough pelt of the sea;

Though Earth has rolled beneath her weight
The bones that cannot bear the light.

Posted by: lurker_above at February 23, 2014 08:31 AM (92pbI)

133 Manly poems, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", by Tennyson; "Danegeld", by Kipling; "Don Juan", by Byron sounds manly but I have never read it.

Posted by: ts eliot at February 23, 2014 08:31 AM (3MNCs)

134 Howdy, Oregon Muse! *waves back*

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at February 23, 2014 08:34 AM (Pfvig)

135 The manliest poem I can think of starts like this:

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who carried his balls in a bucket



Posted by: Sticky Wicket at February 23, 2014 08:35 AM (0IhFx)

136 131 That's a bit surrealistic - a bunch of decadent, amoral, ruthless, power-crazy shits watching a show about decadent, amoral, ruthless power-crazy shits and celebrating the show. As Noonan said, those people apparently have no clue at all as to how they appear to their subjects in flyover country. They're laughing at us. Posted by: Donna and V. (no ampersand) at February 23, 2014 12:28 PM (R3gO3) As I've said before, I'm getting a distinct Late Roman Empire vibe.

Posted by: rickl at February 23, 2014 08:37 AM (sdi6R)

137 139 You started it now let's hear the rest of it. I have a picture in my mind and need to know where to go with it.

Posted by: Tuna at February 23, 2014 08:39 AM (M/TDA)

138 I must also praise the "manliness" of Robert Service as others have earlier in the thread. There's a nice little site, www.robertservice.com, that has lots of info about his life, as well as links to some of his poetry, especially some of the more obscure stuff. I recommend taking a look at "The Men Who Don't Fit In" at http://tinyurl.com/mal976y and "Snooky", a poem about his dog, at http://tinyurl.com/kcqn79b.

Posted by: Elinor at February 23, 2014 08:40 AM (TCqhy)

139 I like that poem, lurker above. Thanks.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 23, 2014 08:40 AM (XyM/Y)

140 I've been meaning to mention. Ever since Carol took a quick turn through the barrel a couple of weeks ago, it's been a fundamentally better place.

Silk curtains. And the carpet is clean! Thanks, Carol!

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 12:20 PM (xq1UY)



Stringer Davis, just because it's fuzzy does not mean it's carpet.

Posted by: Steck at February 23, 2014 08:40 AM (5i94q)

141 "Nantucket" was the first limerick ever written.
The original was not ribald. Merely a Northeastern dialect joke.

There was an old man from Nantucket
Who kept all his gold in a bucket.
His daughter, named Nan
Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket? Nantucket.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 08:40 AM (xq1UY)

142 " The Ballad of the White Horse " by the original Che'; GK CHEsterson

Posted by: Billy the Mountain at February 23, 2014 08:40 AM (+nZ2x)

143 85?
Hrothgar 2+2=4 ?

It was the strangest thing- I have written all my life, from childhood. By the Atlantic Ocean when I grew on it. At Riverside- my first late wife's house-- I sat by the river and wrote all the time. For pay, for fun.

As soon as we moved to the waterless South End here, I could not write a word. It was maddening. This went on from 1987 to Emmy's death in 2010. Then the floodgates opened and I could not stop writing....

Posted by: backhoe at February 23, 2014 08:41 AM (ULH4o)

144 16 Since True Detective is all the rage, and I haven't watched it. I figured I would do some reading before I dive in. I picked up The King in Yellow for background. The Turn of the Screw is on the list, and so is the Cthulu Mythos. Sometime next month, I'll start reading Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of True Detective. Posted by: no good deed at February 23, 2014 10:23 AM (vBhbc) I first heard of "The Repairer of Reputations" because I listen to the Classic Tales podcast. It's a really weird story and you don't know if the narrator is completely crazy from the beginning.

Posted by: AmishDude at February 23, 2014 08:41 AM (xSegX)

145 I read "The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman. It was o.k. but I didn't enjoy it enough to pick up any of his other books. Since he's an Atheist who wants to write a series to "upend" C.S. Lewis instead of just wanting to write good, entertaining books it tells me that he has more than a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 23, 2014 08:43 AM (XyM/Y)

146
You started it now let's hear the rest of it. I have a picture in my mind and need to know where to go with it.

Heck, I don't even remember...but there were two versions. One was raunchy, the other was about golf.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at February 23, 2014 08:43 AM (0IhFx)

147 145 So much for the picture in my mind. Was hoping for ribald.

Posted by: Tuna at February 23, 2014 08:43 AM (M/TDA)

148 I just finished Dr. K's "Things That Matter."

Here are Things I didn't know:

1) K's native language is French.

2) K was chief psychiatric resident at Mass General.

3) K is a chess nut.

4) Man, can K ever write beautiful English prose!

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2014 08:45 AM (68RU9)

149 Sorry about the bad link in 142 above for the Robert Service poem "The Men Who Don't Fit In". From that link, just click on home and you can link the poem from there.

Posted by: Elinor at February 23, 2014 08:51 AM (TCqhy)

150 I also cannot shake the late Roman Empire vibe lately either. House of Cards is infuriating that you never hear about what voters want, only palace intrigue and manipulation of the media. There is no fear of voter backlash, it is all "managed" and they soldier on. The creeping shadows over DC and menacing music. It is the anti-West Wing, but probably about as truthful. I just wonder sometimes how it plays to LIVs, or even the super informed on the other side. Do they see what a cynical dishonest load of crap the War on Women is, or how really, it is ALL pay to play?

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 23, 2014 08:54 AM (ez1qi)

151 From the comments on Larry Correia's blog on the glittery hoo haa kerfluffle I find there is an alternative to SFWA - SASS: Society for the Advancement of Speculative Fiction.

http://sasswritersgroup.blogspot.com/


Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at February 23, 2014 08:55 AM (T0LzR)

152 One of the best (and prophetic) by Rudyard Kipling.  Remind you of anyone we know?

http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/servant_when_he_reigneth.html

Posted by: Grandma Mimi at February 23, 2014 09:04 AM (u5LFV)

153 81 Rumor has it Ellroy submitted an incredibly long book and his publisher ordered him to reduce it by half. Rather than to remove the numerous subplots he removed modifiers which gives the book a you-are-there stream of consciousness feel.

Heh. My Russian prof claims that when they reformed spelling back in the '20s and got rid of most of the hard signs, War ampersand Peace lost 100 pages.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 23, 2014 09:04 AM (U82Km)

154 "Two People" by AA Milne is a wonderful, gentle, ironic novel about a marriage. On my shelf, republished a few years ago. Just wanted to add that since our host mentions "The Red House Mystery."

Posted by: Emily at February 23, 2014 09:11 AM (7Rn+/)

155 Steck, thank you for that bit of floor-covering explication. I hope "a certain party who is straight-as-a-string and nevertheless pretty well liked around here" doe not have to ask "What does that mean?"

Took me back to the Sixties, in more ways than one. Ah, manliness.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 23, 2014 09:13 AM (xq1UY)

156 I've always been partial to "Kong Looks Back on His Tryout with the Bears" by William Trowbridge. If it had worked out, IÂ’d be on a train to Green Bay, not crawling up this building with the Air Corps on my ass. And if it werenÂ’t for love, IÂ’d drop this shrieking little bimbo sixty stories and let them teach me to mambo and do imitations. They tried me on the offensive line, told me to take out the right cornerback for Nagurski. Eager to please, I wadded up the whole secondary, then stomped the line, then the bench and locker room, then the east end of town, to the river. But they were not pleased: they said I had to learn my position, become a team player. The great father Bear himself said that, so I tried hard to know the right numbers and how the arrows slanted toward the little oÂ’s. But the oÂ’s and the wet grass and grunts drowned out the count, and the tight little cheers drew my arrow straight into the stands, and the wives tasted like flowers and raw fish. So I was put on waivers right after camp and here I am, panty-sniffer, about to die a clown, who once opened a hole you could drive Nebraska through.

Posted by: Achilles at February 23, 2014 09:21 AM (oj0hw)

157 Posted by: Grandma Mimi at February 23, 2014 01:04 PM (u5LFV) Nothing like a historical perspective.

Posted by: Hrothgar 2+2=4 for most values of 2 and 4 at February 23, 2014 09:25 AM (o3MSL)

158 Looking for a manly man hero? Manly men don't get much more manly than Uhtred in Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series.

Posted by: Tuna at February 23, 2014 09:35 AM (M/TDA)

159 I've rescued a cat or two from trees. And a dog. How many to equal one kitten? Does a little girl have to be crying for the kitten? Plus, I didn't really earn my relatively distinctive face scar; I was asleep in the passenger seat when we decapitated the horse (instead of me, by inches). Hanging chad?

Posted by: mindul webworker — punchy at February 23, 2014 09:39 AM (Jh9QN)

160 Wot? No Caber Toss?

Posted by: manly webworker — punchier at February 23, 2014 09:46 AM (7KxSm)

161 Well, most anything by Kipling, of course. 
And there's always "Horatius at the Bridge" by Macaulay. 

But Robert E. Howard is right up there in the top flight.  Sadly, most of his best stuff isn't in the public domain.

Posted by: Luke at February 23, 2014 09:56 AM (32FX2)

162 My selections from Kipling: The American Rebellion The Children Dane-geld Danny Deever Ford O' Kabul River Gentleman Rankers The Gods of the Copybook Headings The Grave of the Hundred Head Gunga Din The Islanders Macdonough's Song Mesopotamia Norman and Saxon The Question Recessional Song of the Red War-Boat A Song to Mithras Tommy The Verdicts The Widow at Windsor The Widow's Party Zion As for anti-war, not poetry, but I have never read any horror more thoroughly horrifying and horrific than Ambrose Bierce's Civil War short stories.

Posted by: Sam at February 23, 2014 09:56 AM (Tgd6y)

163 Posted by: Achilles at February 23, 2014 01:21 PM (oj0hw) **** I like that! Manly and yet whimsical.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 23, 2014 10:01 AM (g4TxM)

164 Before I forget I wanted to recommend Novik's Temeraire series as my middle-high kidlets enjoyed them. The series is usually shelved in adult, but appropriate and enjoyable for middle-high schoolers. Another recommendation is Mel Odom and Lord of the Library series -- again shelved in adult, but appropriate and enjoyable for younger readers. Butcher and the Wizard of Chicago is another my younger kids enjoyed. I was treated to a spectacular rant last night from my youngest who claims that high school has ruined her for reading for enjoyment. I think her frustration with Lord of the Rings has skewed everything -- although Holden Caulfield engendered a lot of "get a job" rants.

Posted by: Mustbequantum at February 23, 2014 10:19 AM (MIKMs)

165 Well, if the ampersand used to be in the alphabet, that means it was a letter. So, it was in words. What are some of these words? Also, how was it pronounced in those words? I mean, if you take word "twilight" and stick an ampersand in the middle of it, you wouldn't just say the whole word ampersand in the middle of it, just like you don't say "double u" when a 'w' is used.

I call bullshit.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at February 23, 2014 10:21 AM (IN7k+)

166 Before I forget I wanted to recommend Novik's Temeraire series as my middle-high kidlets enjoyed them. The series is usually shelved in adult, but appropriate and enjoyable for middle-high schoolers. Posted by: Mustbequantum at February 23, 2014 02:19 PM (MIKMs) I loved His Majesty's Dragon. Solid recommendation.

Posted by: BornLib at February 23, 2014 10:23 AM (zpNwC)

167 His work was so famous and so commonly taught in school - at least before WWII - that there were Warner Brothers cartoons in the 30's that were riffs on his poems - and everyone was expected to get the joke.

Posted by: jscd3 at February 23, 2014 10:48 AM (IhcR5)


Not only that, but the guy actually made a living as a poet, without any government grants. His books sold in the marketplace.



Here's an undeservedly obscure Service poem: "The Ballad of Lenin's Tomb". Once that came out, his stuff was no longer acceptable in Commie-land. There is a Robert Service web site, and you can find that poem on it. Every Moron should read it!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 23, 2014 10:24 AM (60Q+L)

168 I did not see that anyone mentioned Arthur Hugh Clough in the poetry category.  My favorite is "Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth", quoted by Churchill during the Battle of Britain:

SAY not the struggle naught availeth,
   The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
   And as things have been they remain.

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
   It may be, in yon smoke conceal'd,
Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,
   And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
   Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
   Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

And not by eastern windows only,
   When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
   But westward, look, the land is bright!

Also, this week I re-read a biography of H.L. Mencken, and followed up by starting his The American Language.  Someone accused him of being a socialist, and I was certain they were wrong, but wanted to refresh my memory just to be sure.

In Sci Fi, I have been re-reading the Commodore Grimes books by A. Bertram Chandler.  As a former merchant marine officer, he had a pretty good feel for relations between crew members on a ship, and made that a pretty important part of his stories.

Posted by: CQD at February 23, 2014 10:38 AM (L9te5)

169 The Ruby in the Smoke series was made into a mini-series by BBC starring that Dr Who chick & one ofteh Dr Who's

Posted by: Votermom at February 23, 2014 10:44 AM (GSIDW)

170 I didn't read all the links but I guess some of you know that Larry Correia is also the blogger who broke the Fast and Furious story. He writes at Sipsey Street Irregulars along with Mike Vanderweugh (sp).

Posted by: Mr. Dave at February 23, 2014 11:54 AM (RlEsx)

 

Speaking of "manly men," here's Mike Vanderboegh at a  recent TEA Party rally.  Jebus.  What a leader!

 

http://bit.ly/1nTVQD2

Posted by: RushBabe at February 23, 2014 10:46 AM (hrIP5)

171 His work was so famous and so commonly taught in school - at least before WWII - that there were Warner Brothers cartoons in the 30's that were riffs on his poems - and everyone was expected to get the joke. Posted by: jscd3 at February 23, 2014 10:48 AM (IhcR5) ******* Yes! And remember the riff on Services "Carry On!" by Judge Smail's character in "Caddyshack"? It's easy to grin When your ship comes in And you've got the stock market beat. But the man worthwhile Is the man who can smile When his shorts are too tight in the seat.

Posted by: Elinor at February 23, 2014 10:48 AM (TCqhy)

172 Shooting of Dan McGrwe, by Service Totally Moron: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174349

Posted by: Mike Hammer at February 23, 2014 10:51 AM (aDwsi)

173 McGrew

Posted by: Mike Hammer at February 23, 2014 10:52 AM (aDwsi)

174 Surprised I didn't see this one discussed - From American-born, Harvard-educated, Greenwich Village and Latin Quarter of Paris poet who nonetheless volunteered for the French Foreign Legion and was killed (per wikipedia) "... in action at Belloy-en-Santerre on July 4, 1916, famously cheering on his fellow soldiers in a successful charge after being hit several times by machine gun fire." A freakin' POET who volunteered to go fight in the trenches of WWI...for the French. Amazing... Alan Seeger, uncle of Pete Seger... "I Have a Rendesvous With Death" I HAVE a rendezvous with Death At some disputed barricade, When Spring comes back with rustling shade And apple-blossoms fill the air— I have a rendezvous with Death 5 When Spring brings back blue days and fair. It may be he shall take my hand And lead me into his dark land And close my eyes and quench my breath— It may be I shall pass him still. 10 I have a rendezvous with Death On some scarred slope of battered hill, When Spring comes round again this year And the first meadow-flowers appear. God knows 'twere better to be deep 15 Pillowed in silk and scented down, Where love throbs out in blissful sleep, Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath, Where hushed awakenings are dear... But I've a rendezvous with Death 20 At midnight in some flaming town, When Spring trips north again this year, And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous I HAVE a rendezvous with Death At some disputed barricade, When Spring comes back with rustling shade And apple-blossoms fill the air— I have a rendezvous with Death 5 When Spring brings back blue days and fair. It may be he shall take my hand And lead me into his dark land And close my eyes and quench my breath— It may be I shall pass him still. 10 I have a rendezvous with Death On some scarred slope of battered hill, When Spring comes round again this year And the first meadow-flowers appear. God knows 'twere better to be deep 15 Pillowed in silk and scented down, Where love throbs out in blissful sleep, Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath, Where hushed awakenings are dear... But I've a rendezvous with Death 20 At midnight in some flaming town, When Spring trips north again this year, And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous

Posted by: tomaig at February 23, 2014 10:53 AM (XEb+7)

175 semi-manly poem: "Over the teeth and throught the gums, look out stomach here it comes."

Posted by: tomc at February 23, 2014 10:55 AM (avEuh)

176 More manly poetry for the Horde:

Blood thought he knew the native mind;
He said you must be firm, but kind.
A mutiny resulted.
I shall never forget the way
That Blood stood upon this awful day
Preserved us all from death.
He stood upon a little mound
Cast his lethargic eyes around,
And said beneath his breath:
'Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim Gun, and they have not.'


"The Modern Traveller"

Hilaire Belloc

Posted by: Pave Low John at February 23, 2014 11:19 AM (LBDKv)

177 I just read Enigma, and prior to that, Fatherland, all because of the discussion of Pompeii by Robert Harris here a few weeks ago. All excellent, so a big thanks to the 'rons & 'ettes for that! I also decided to give Harry Turtledove a try, and accidentally started with his Crosstime series, not realizing it is young-adult. It's pretty good except - Turtledove's a lefty, isn't he? That's the subtext anyway. Next on my list is The Secret Speech which is the sequel to the harrowing Child 44.

Posted by: Votermom at February 23, 2014 11:32 AM (GSIDW)

178 I didn't read all the links but I guess some of you know that Larry Correia David Codrea is also the blogger who broke the Fast and Furious story. He writes at Sipsey Street Irregulars along with Mike Vanderweugh (sp).

Posted by: Mr. Dave at February 23, 2014 11:54 AM (RlEsx)

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2014 11:37 AM (yh0zB)

179 183 That makes a heck of a lot more sense.

Posted by: BornLib at February 23, 2014 11:47 AM (zpNwC)

180 OregonMuse, thank you for this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Enjoyable, informative, thought-provoking.

Posted by: Orchidoptera at February 23, 2014 12:09 PM (RG5hz)

181 126 Meaning "Master and Commander" although I've been assured that once I get the bug from that I won't be satisfied until I've completed the series.

I am afraid that you are correct, I read the first one a couple of weeks ago and am now on the third one.  Luckily I do not have to wait for the author to write more.

Also finished Killer Nurse by John Foxjohn, non fiction, about the nurse in Lufkin who murdered/assaulted dialysis patients by putting bleach in their machines.  Highly recommend for anyone who like true crime.

Posted by: Charlotte at February 23, 2014 12:21 PM (xqiXc)

182 OregonMuse, thank you for this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Enjoyable, informative, thought-provoking.

Thank you for your kind words, the book thread is a lot of fun to do every week, and I'm grateful to the moron horde who make it what it is.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 23, 2014 12:51 PM (fTJ5O)

183 Can't believe no one has posted this yet: In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-191 Canadian Army In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. ..fritz...

Posted by: Fritzworth at February 23, 2014 01:53 PM (7svyX)

184 (stupid smiley face auto-convert...)

Posted by: Fritzworth at February 23, 2014 01:55 PM (7svyX)

185 This being a book thread, I'd like Heinlein's list better:
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.”

Done, or trained to do, almost all of them, without having to stretch definitions more than just a tiny bit in a couple of cases.

Posted by: Rolf at February 23, 2014 01:55 PM (+O7nZ)

186 I never saved a cat from a tree, but I saved a neighbor trapped for a day under his automobile. I heard his calls for help, although his home is about 500 feet away. Although it would have been easier to just go back home and ignore the strange sounds I heard I kept walking in the direction of the strange noise. I chocked his tires, set his brake again carefully, retrieved his jack and jacked the car *just barely* enough to pull him free without upsetting the balance. When we meet he still refers to me as 'the guy who saved my life'. His face was swollen and burned from the exhaust and he looked terrible, but he refused my offer to drive him to the ER, but I had my wife call his daughter to check him out. She dragged him to the ER for treatment. Protip: Never work under a car parked on a grade.

Posted by: SE Pa Moron [/i] at February 23, 2014 02:16 PM (CnA98)

187 Saw some recommendations for Kingsley Amis above. My favorite of his novels is "I Want It Now." I still love the introduction to the hero, Ronny Appleyard, a young man on the make in 1960s London: "To be fair to young Ronny Appleyard, he was not interested in power as such. Money and fame with a giant's helping of sex thrown in, was all he was after."

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at February 23, 2014 03:02 PM (ngEnv)

188 Not a book, but based on a french comic - me & the kids had a blast watching The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec on netflix streaming.

Posted by: Votermom at February 23, 2014 03:39 PM (GSIDW)

189 Just to follow up on my post a few weeks ago about Moneyball by Michael Lewis. I had a chance to watch the 2011 movie last weekend, due to being housebound by the heavy snow.

According to Sony Pictures: "Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) challenges the system and defies conventional wisdom when his is forced to rebuild his small-market team on a limited budget. Despite opposition from the old guard, the media, fans and their own field manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Beane - with the help of a young, number-crunching, Yale-educated economist (Jonah Hill) - develops a roster of misfits...and along the way, forever changes the way the game is played."

I have to admit that the movie is a strong adaptation of the book. But I still do not understand how a move with apparent limited appeal was ever made. However, it earned 75 million in domestic box office and Rotten Tomatoes gave it a very good grade. So, you have a choice: read the book or watch the movie.

Posted by: long time lurker at February 23, 2014 04:41 PM (ok7Un)

190 Carnation milk, best in the land.
Comes in a little red and white can.
No tits to pull, no hay to pitch,
you just punch a hole in the son of a bitch.

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2014 05:09 PM (68RU9)

191 84 That painting is about as gay as it gets. Two major phallic symbols, one of which is about to be shoved in the rear of the other by sweaty sailors. I'm not judging gayness, but boy howdy, that painting is gay.

Most deeply closeted gay Navy movie EVER: "Away All Boats" starring Jeff Chandler.

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at February 23, 2014 07:54 PM (XO6WW)

192 "I also decided to give Harry Turtledove a try, and accidentally started with his Crosstime series, not realizing it is young-adult. It's pretty good except - Turtledove's a lefty, isn't he? That's the subtext anyway." His Crosstime series is pretty much a young adult version of H. Beam Piper's "Paratime" books. In those, the government is rather powerful, as are various businesses - both enough so to cause more than a bit of trouble for everyone, including a "form" of slavery in the home time line. (Why the quotation marks? Because whether or not it is full-on chattel slavery is an active issue in at least one story.) Piper was of course NOT a lefty. I'd have to reread the books for specific subtext, but offhand I recall Turtledove being much as Piper, with any such references to the government or corporations of the home timeline being "lefty" as plot elements, especially to provide for antagonism from characters, rather than endorsements of such characteristics.

Posted by: Sam at February 23, 2014 09:46 PM (Tgd6y)

193 7, illtemperedcur, you... you... had a copy of Felch comix? (gasp)

Posted by: OK, thanks, bye at February 25, 2014 09:06 AM (RPDkq)

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